Perspectives on LWR severe accidents and public risks

• Published in: Nuclear engineering and design Vol. 354; p. 110253
• Main Author: Sehgal, Bal Raj
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.12.2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Accidents; Land pollution; Light water reactors; Nuclear accidents; Nuclear accidents & safety; Nuclear energy; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear power plants; Nuclear reactors; Nuclear safety; Operator performance; Probabilistic risk assessment; Public concern; Radioactive contamination; Radioactive pollution; Radioactivity; Risk assessment
• ISSN: 0029-5493; 1872-759X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2019.110253

Risks of light water reactors (LWRs) for the public were recognized as an important issue and are subject of several probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs), starting with the WASH-1400 risk study performed in early 1970s (US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 1975). Nuclear safety goals were also formulated based on these studies and/or independently. Both the goals and the formulation of the risks considered the effects of radioactivity releases on the health of a population affected in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant undergoing an accident. WASH-1400 also considered the land contamination that a radioactive release may inflict. The Fukushima accident has highlighted that the principal consequences of a nuclear severe accident may not be the immediate fatalities and injuries and the latent (cancer) health effects, but the societal upheaval and the economic damage that could be caused by a major release of radioactivity to the environment. Such consequences of a severe nuclear accident bring a quite different focus to the risk profile of large-scale deployment of nuclear power in the world. This is addressed in this paper, along with the ancillary issues; design basis, residual risk, cost benefit and back-fit rules, GEN II plants, GEN III + plants, operator performance during severe accidents, fear of radioactivity, and finally public confidence in nuclear power. The paper addresses the above-listed topics, primarily with personal perspectives which may not be shared by the nuclear industry and/or the nuclear regulatory establishments, partly or in whole.